The Fountain Institute is an independent online school that teaches advanced UX & product skills.
Dear Reader,
Let's talk about something that's deceptively hard: facilitating productive conversations is like herding cats with words.
How do you get everyone to express their ideas, especially if they differ from the group?
And getting to a consensus at the end feels impossible.
One powerful tool you can lean on is good questions.
As a designer, asking good questions is an essential skill that helps to drive productive discussions and ensure that all team members are engaged and involved in the conversation.
Here are some tips to help you ask good questions during a session:
To help you get started, here are some questions you can have in your back pocket.
As experts in UX, you're looking for ways to improve your craft and grow your expertise. These questions help create productive conversations that help you and your team gain new insights & perspectives.
Whether you're working in research, innovation, strategy, or facilitation, asking good questions is essential to driving productive discussions.
I hope these tips make you feel more confident driving those critical conversations.
We just announced the latest Book Club book! 🎉📚🎉
Ruined by Design by Mike Monteiro challenges us to consider design's ethical and political impact, leaving the reader with a rallying cry to use design skills for the greater good.
Want to join the event? Grab the book and join the #book-club channel in the Guild of Working Designers Slack!
Designing Joyful Brainstorming Experiences
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Learn techniques to generate new ideas purposefully.
Reserve a seat
Facilitating Workshops
May 15-Jun. 5, 2023
Learn to design creative working sessions and lead collaborative work.
Reserve a seat
shared by Filipe Monteiro in the Guild
Until next week!
Hannah Baker
Educator & Co-Founder
The Fountain Institute
The Fountain Institute is an independent online school that teaches advanced UX & product skills.
Figma Skills Won't Get You Promoted by Jeff Humble Dear Reader, Today's advice letter concerns the design community's fetishization of Figma and how our obsession with tools gives the wrong impression. Let me explain. Everywhere you look, designer dudes are trying to sell you on Figma. Design is so much more than software for drawing rectangles. But still, you click this stuff. It's almost like you think that learning this one piece of software is the job...rather than, you know, learning how...
Shaping the Future of the Guild of Working Designers - Let's Co-Create! By Hannah Baker Dear Reader, As one of over 6,500 newsletter subscribers, you're part of a vibrant group passionate about senior-level design and leadership. You might have heard us refer to the Guild of Working Designers, or Guild for short, and maybe you're even part of it. But if you've been curious about what this is and why it exists, we are here to clarify that and offer an opportunity to shape its future. The Guild...
Innovation by Design with Cristina Colosi Dear Reader, Last night, we heard an inspiring talk from Cristina Colosi, a service designer working on the innovation team at Rainforest Alliance. Many designers want to get involved in sustainability work, and Cristina is an example of how you can use your design skills to make a real impact on the climate. Cristina gave us a firsthand view of her innovation work with a case study about an NGO that involved farmers, corporations, and the entire...